Sanctity of contract, sanctity of the people

Apr 09, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

H@rd Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – Guyanese exist with a government and leaders that are skillful in coming up with all types of new tricks, all manner of ancient tactics, to overpower those deviating from the PPP script, when the national oil wealth is the issue. In contrast, the same PPP Government and leaders shrivel into a bundle of soaked newspapers when it comes to the 2016 oil contract wielded like a sledgehammer by Exxon.

GHK Lall

The talk is of honor. Honour -my God, when has that ever been around in this town?Men who don’t know the beginning of what sanctity represents, or that it existed, now make speak of sanctity. I am reminded that the devil does quote scripture, when it suits his purpose.

What is there to holdup as the local end of a deal when the other fella is fighting to the death for US$107M? Where is principle when Exxon puts up billboards that deceive Guyanese? A partner or a stalker? Or, in mafia terms, a heavyweight skullcrusher. It was the same people who used to race forward with the news: new discoveries, new barrels by the many new millions. Now somebody leaves that to somebody else only for another somebody to give a peek (746K barrels). The Chinese are not known for being talkative where business is concerned; yet they are the ones breaking the seal of secrecy. And their chief shareholder is of a communisticbent.

So, what is Guyana honoring? Sanctity of contract? Or is it of Ali and Jagdeo surrendering everything, so that the sanctity of the PPP’s hold on power is not breached? Even if this pauperizesevery last Guyanese.The PPP headmen-President Ali, Vice President Jagdeo, Attorney General Nandlall-know very well that their postures about sanctity of contract are lame, limp, and stink. They haven’t even made a move to test the vitality of how inviolable this sanctity is.Because that alone could spell political doom. So, they clump together these clods about honor and honorable people, which they themselves don’t believe, knowhave slipperystanding.

So, they walk around in those transparent trousers (contract sanctity), regardless of how naked this leaves them. Alright, go ahead and leave the contract alone. But why not empower the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be theboldest, fully armored warrior for Guyanese. Unleash the EPA and insulate it. One local bigshot has embraced the mantra of leaving things to technical people, and how he doesn’t get involved in such details and procedures. This character straight out of Dante Alighieri must believe that Guyanese are dunderheads with dunce caps to confirm their retarded state. With every respect to Mr. Khemraj Parsram, the Executive Head of the EPA, who has been reengineered into the saddest, most pitied of caricatures, his leadership role and his mission are that of a suicide bomber. On an unsuccessful day, he is a victim; on a better day, he is still in the loss column, as in dead and done.

To the chief policymaker, this recommendation is made. Make it a policy priority for the EPA to be a powerhouse of a national regulatory institution. Stick with not going anywhere near, not touching, the contract. Let the EPA be the spearhead that makes Exxon see matters our way. I want to say ha-ha, that will be the day with the EPA, the one when Jagdeo gets wings and finds what he doesn’t have. No! it is not what begins with a b, but a c. But I will not do that today. This is the prescription, the MRI, that I order for doctors Ali and Jagdeo: Exxon has brandished the 2016 contract like a weapon under the nose of Guyana. Therefore, it is justified, well within the rules of the playing field, for Ali and Jagdeo to weaponize the EPA to the farthest extents of its legal perimeters. Convert the EPA to be the contract with the Guyanese people. My single concern is whether both national leaders have the nerves for the harsh medicine. It is inconceivable to me that a rich country like Guyana could have such poor minds.

No man with a spot of honor could standby and turn his face from what Exxon is doing here. The savvy American oil company has not played fair nor square with Guyana. This country does not have to descend to any scurrilous levels. All that medics Ali and Jagdeo have to do is to put the EPA to work as it should have been doing from the discovery of the first pint of oil: unfettered, uninfluenced, and untroubled. EPA director, Mr. Parsram, may surprise us all, in that he has little relationship with the effigy figure that has come to be automatically attached to his name, and actions. I think that all he needs is a hammer and he could become the local Thor, a fighter against wrongs, and a fearlesswarrior for Guyana. If the PPP Government is truly serious about doing its best for Guyanese, then it must cease its beating around the bush on oil matters. The EPA must be unleashed, and Khemraj Parsram recalibrated into more of an attacker than a defender, more of an environmental supercop and not for another day such an embarrassing national flop. Exxon can have its cherished sanctity; Guyanese can get to fight back, attain some parity.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)